The Bishop's Blog

Thoughts and reflections from Bishop John Harvey Taylor

Daily prayer: Absalom Jones

Daily prayer: Absalom Jones

Set us free, heavenly God, from every bond of prejudice and fear; that, honoring the steadfast courage of your servant Absalom Jones, we may show forth in our lives the reconciling love and true...

Daily prayer: To thirst for righteousness

Daily prayer: To thirst for righteousness

Gracious God, sitting with his friends on the mountaintop in Galilee, your Son said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” By your grace, may your...

Daily prayer: Nelson Mandela

Daily prayer: Nelson Mandela

Gracious God, your Son promised that everything freed on earth would be freed in heaven and warned that things bound on earth might be bound in heaven: On this day 35 years ago, after 27 years of...

Daily Prayer: Grace Towns Hamilton

Daily Prayer: Grace Towns Hamilton

Gracious God, on this, the 118th anniversary of her birth, we give you thanks for the life and witness of Grace Towns Hamilton, who in 1966 became the first women of African descent elected to the...

Lunar New Year at St. Thomas’, Hacienda Heights

Lunar New Year at St. Thomas’, Hacienda Heights

After COVID, I resolved never to take for granted the simple pleasure of being together in community -- to worship, break bread, and share fellowship. Whenever we are, we change. If we ask questions...

Daily prayer: Satchel Paige

Daily prayer: Satchel Paige

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in...

Welcoming Silas Harvey Passarella

Welcoming Silas Harvey Passarella

Silas Harvey Passarella, my daughter Valerie and Mark’s son and five-year-old Harriet’s little brother, arrived on our side of the veil on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m., right on schedule. The family...

Daily prayer: Carter G. Woodson

Daily prayer: Carter G. Woodson

Gracious God in Christ, who shepherds your people through the wilderness, lighting us forward to the realm of freedom and truth even when sin tries to block our way: We give you thanks for the...

Lunch with Rick Perlstein

Lunch with Rick Perlstein

Historian and journalist Rick Perlstein is a progressive expert in conservative candidates and presidents, beginning with Barry Goldwater, who ran unsuccessfully in 1964, through Ronald Reagan. His...

Daily prayer: Arthur Ashe

Daily prayer: Arthur Ashe

Gracious God, we give you thanks for the life and witness of Arthur Ashe, who died on this day in 1993. To this day the only man of African descent to win the singles titles at the U.S. Open,...

Daily prayer: Trayvon Martin

Daily prayer: Trayvon Martin

Gracious God, Trayvon Martin, who would have turned 30 today, was nine when he saved the life of his father, Tracy, by dragging him from their burning apartment. You knew Trayvon's courage and his...